[Trued]

Originally Posted by AIRPOWER

LEDs are bright and white as hell and people flash me all the time.

This is an issue for me as well cars and trucks flash at me quite often at night. There is something with the BMW lights that upset people. Something in the engineering department must have gone wrong.
It is very irritating and som asshats not only flash but keep the HIGH BEAMS and auxiliary lights on that is very discomforting.
BMW deal with this.

[PABrian]

Originally Posted by 08njSTEP

I think the key statement is "a vehicle with excessive glare....can't earn a rating above marginal". So super bright is marginal. BMW has been a leader in lighting technology, but I guess their lights have too much glare. Personally I would rather glare oncoming and see than not.

There's a difference between very bright and glare. Glare comes from the cutoff not being properly defined or positioned, and in this test is indicated by a little red "x" on the light output graph, as seen here.

As we can see with other cars in the test that scored well, you can have very bright lights and not have glare.

[remcoy]

If you look at the diagrams on the IIHS site, you can see something is very wrong with the 3 series lights, It looks like they were aimed incorrectly from the factory. Unlike Consumer Reports testing, where they aim the lights correctly before testing.. IIHS tests them as arrived the factory (which is good because that’s how most drivers are going to experience them).


This really is bad though. bad bad bad.
People crash and die from this stuff..

Worth considering however, that consumers buy based on how headlights (and taillights) LOOK, not on how they perform, which is harder to determine. Like everything else in engineering, what leads to nice looking lights, might be counter to what leads to good performing lights.. (as in giant wheels)

Manufacturers have to yield to market forces though even they’re ignorant of the tradeoffs-
i.e. CUV’s with giant rims, bad visibility, and bad headlights


The Accord , Mazda6, and Subarus seem to be able to do much better with much less is you look at the diagrams (or if you’ve ever driven one!).
One thought, is that these cars were originally designed for the US market first, while the European cars are designed originally to european headlight standards, then adapted to meet US regulations… perhaps leading to a compromised process from the onset. (taking away light to conform to different regulations, rather than re-engineering the housings and reflectors from the ground up?)

That’s why the popular switching an audi/bmw/benz to the Euro model lights (in the old days) was such always a huge boost in performance.

[dmboone25]

Marginal? I saw the report live - it said the BMW 3 series with standard halogen headlights scored dead last.



You might crash into a deer or tree at night, but hey, you got the ultimate floating machine yo!

[Ghetto2315]

It's an absolute crime that HID Bi-Xenon headlights are not standard equipment on EVERY model. There are things that I marvel at with BMW and what they do to transcend the automotive market. Having halogen headlights still is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Embarrassing.

[stvding]

Come on! It is a halogen , what do you expect?what more do you want?

[Killramos]

Originally Posted by Ghetto2315

It's an absolute crime that HID Bi-Xenon headlights are not standard equipment on EVERY model. There are things that I marvel at with BMW and what they do to transcend the automotive market. Having halogen headlights still is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Embarrassing.

To be fair you are used to how BMW's are perceived in NA, where even our bargain basement low range models are actually more like the mid-high range in europe.

In their home markets they sell an asston of smaller cheaper cars. Where the margins on something like HID headlights actually mean something to the bottom line.

The last time i was in europe our rental car was a BMW 116d, that was in the cheapest rental class. Nothing special. That's not even their smallest engine.

All I am saying is we are talking about a company that competes not only on the high end with MB and Audi, but on the low end with VW or Renault as well. They sell a ton of econo cars with Halogens, and some of that design language leaks into the low spec cars we see here.

[cipher5]

NO BMW should come with halogen headlights in this day and age. Every BMW should have Xenon headlights with the option to upgrade to LED and some day laser. This is higher end luxury car brand and there is no reason why they shouldn't have a headlight system that most other, lower end luxury brands come with standard (Acura has Xenon standard). BMW needs to step it up and discontinue halogen headlights period.

[Chez]

The halogens on the 3 do suck - I had them on my F30.

As for the LEDs being "marginal", if it's the same system as the F82, I can only assume that it may have been marked down for "excessive glare" as visibility at night is better than any other car I've driven or sat in as a passenger. Of course, I have adaptive/anti-dazzle coded.

I've also never been flashed because of glare/dazzle, so IDK.

[superherorockstar]

Originally Posted by gp_solo2

I am not surprise with those results. I have a M235 with non adaptive headlight and I always found that the low beam are pointing way too low. It is my first car that I regret not having adaptive headlight and where I find it an issue driving at night.

It also caused me to hit a racoon at about 100km/h. I had to switch to lower beam because of incoming trafics and at the time I saw the racoon there is no way I would have time to avoid it. You need to be drivng at a much lower speed to be able to do so because of the way the headlight are configured and this is not acceptable in my opinion for a company such as BMW.

Agreed. I have adaptive lights on my 335, and I actually think these are even pointed too low

[richb811]

Originally Posted by TBN54

I drive around with my high beams all day and night.

Want to punch.

[CanadianGatorBacon]

Originally Posted by cjmcdonald86

Are we sure they're not talking about the Hallogen lights? Because, they're sooo horrible!!!

Originally Posted by absoluteis350

They arent talking about LEDs, they are talking about the base 3 series headlights. Which may indeed suck compared to other vehicles.

Originally Posted by stvding

Come on! It is a halogen , what do you expect?what more do you want?

The poor rating is for halogens, but the LEDs only scored one better with a marginal rating, which is below the acceptable rating.

Originally Posted by nelsdvn

This "test" is of marginal use. Of course the federal headlight standards are woefully inadequate. Until NHTSA and the DOT allow manufacturers to offer their best technology the US market will suffer from poor headlight options.

What I find comical in particular is the 2 series detailed results. The upgraded lighting package only rates "poor" unless it is paired with the drivers assist. Only then does it rise to "marginal". Having my hi beams controlled by the car upgrades the rating? Is this a test of lighting effectiveness or an assertion that one needs the car to manage systems rather than a participating, attentive driver.

What a joke and indicative of the pathetic state of US drivers apathy and complete disengagement from driving. I have owned BMWs with adaptive lighting for nearly ten years and they blow away standard halogens. Period. I'll take my marginal to poor BMW any day and I only hope that this IIHS test brings change to the archaic federal headlight regulations.

Totally agree about the driving regs. The difference in rating between the non-auto and auto high beams is that the auto high beams simply let you see farther more often. So yes, the automation feature gives the rating a bump because you can see more when its on, therefore the lighting is more effective than a car without the feature because during regular driving the lights work better. You could achieve the same result by manually using the high beams, but that's not how people usually drive and the feature gives you an advantage over normal drivers. The car could also get a better rating by just having better low beams. So I don't really see why its comical and I don't think its an assertion that one needs the car to manage systems rather than a participating, attentive driver. It is simply a matter that using the features of the car, this car with non-auto headlights has woefully ineffective lighting using normal driving habits (i.e., low beams) and with auto high beams it has slightly more effective lighting because a driver can use the feature in normal driving to supplement the equally ineffective low beams.

[pruettfan]

I am happy to see IIHS take this issue on. There are two issues here. One is that halogen is outdated technology and should be stripped from every manufactures line up. The other is that NHTSA doesn't allow manufactures like BMW who have great LED and Laser headlight technology to run them at their full European spec. If you know anyone who has an M3/4 with LED lights that got them coded to operate at Euro spec they can tell you the night and day difference between the two settings, that difference is while in low beam mode where the vast majority of driving is.

Lets hope that IIHS will ride NHTSA to force them to update their standards to match modern day expectations.

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by cjmcdonald86

Are we sure they're not talking about the Hallogen lights? Because, they're sooo horrible!!!

Can't believe they still offer them.
I also notice on the road that the halogen equipped 3 series on the road have the ricer blue bulb stock now!

[DJKapeesh]

Originally Posted by TBN54

I drive around with my high beams all day and night.

I dislike u

[TheBingoBalls]

2016 and BMW, a premium/luxury manufacturer, still offers halogens.

Didn't BMW get rid of the xenon's for the 3er LCI? It's now LED rings and reflector halogens even with the lighting/LED package? How disappointing.

[CanadianGatorBacon]

So for people who want to address this issue in their cars, better to code it euro spec (if able) or adjust headlight aim?

As a note on adjusting headlight aim, it seems from the tests that high beams worked fine for the most part, and that low beams were the real problem. So will adjusting the low beam to point higher mean lighting up the tops of trees instead of roads with the high beams?

[MichiganMike]

As others have stated, it was not just the BMW halogen headlights that rated poor or marginal in the IIHS test. The IIHS article presents test data for several lighting options offered by BMW in the cars tested.

In the 3 series the LED headlights with automatic switching to high beams were rated marginal. The LED headlights without automatic switching and the halogen headlights were both rated poor.

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/veh...s-4-door-sedan

In the 2 series the HID (Xenon) headlights with automatic switching to high beams were rated marginal. The HID headlights without automatic switching and the halogen headlights (with and without automatic switching) were both rated poor.

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/veh...s-2-door-coupe

Looking at the detailed information, the performance of the HID headlights with and without automatic switching appears the same in the IIHS tests. Presumably a driver could activate high beams when it is safe to do so as efficiently as the automatic system. However, the IIHS article states for HID headlamps with automatic switching: "High-beam assist compensates for some limitations of this vehicle's low beams on the straightaway and on both left curves." This apparently justifies the higher "marginal" rating for the HID headlamps when equipped with automatic switching. This methodology appears questionable.

On the other hand, the performance of the LED headlights in the 3 series appears different with and without automatic switching in the IIHS tests. The LED low beams appear to provide the required light level at greater distances when the automatic switching is present. The article states for the LED headlights with automatic switching: "High-beam assist compensates for some limitations of this vehicle's low beams on the straightaway and all 4 curves."

[WWM3]

Originally Posted by absoluteis350

They arent talking about LEDs, they are talking about the base 3 series headlights. Which may indeed suck compared to other vehicles.

"we remain confident that we offer our customers very effective headlight systems at a variety of price points."

In other words, we (BMW) choose to equip our base cars with shitty headlights because it maximizes our profits/allows us to lower our price point. No one cares if they are a pioneer in anything, if those innovations are not adopted across the product line.

This. No excuse for making the base headlights this poor.

[Delta0311]

I agree the halogen BMW headlights are utter garbage. I think that was one thing that brought me to this forum was figuring out how to upgrade the headlights on my 07 328.. After doing a full conversion the difference was night and day..

[jondaman]

Originally Posted by stvding

Come on! It is a halogen , what do you expect?what more do you want?

I would expect a halogen in a BMW perform better than a halogen in a Toyota Camry. But nooooo, the cost cutting for BMW in their base cars really start to show in these kind of tests. Maybe it will act as a wake up call. Some base cars from other automaker are equipped with projectors and halogen, I can't see why projectors cannot be the new baseline.

[DarkknightM4]

I have my LED lights coded so they are the Dazzle free high beams. They are so awesome the way the high beams move around cars and turn the left one off but leave the right one on when driving on a highway with oncoming traffic. It's like they are terminator eyes always seeking to light up the darkness